Works to repair a road in the Lami area of Suva have been completed ahead of schedule as part of the Fiji Roads Authority’s (FRA) commitment to help stop the spread of Dengue Fever and improve lives across Fiji.
The Naseavou Road was severely plagued with deep potholes which filled with water in wet weather and in some parts there was no drainage.
“This was a very poor road through a large settlement. The original surface had been poorly constructed and little work had been done to it over the years,” said Dale Nicholls, Maintenance Works Manager at The Fiji Roads Authority. “Frequently taxis would refuse to travel up it, leaving many people walking a kilometre through puddles and potholes. With the outbreak of Dengue Fever the FRA acted quickly and sped up the timeframe for completion of this work,” said Mr Nicholls.
Speaking to the FRA, Drivers at the company Taxi Express said, “Most of our customers live in Qauia and now we are able to drop them off in front of their houses. Something else that is good to know is that our maintenance cost will decrease. We also have to accept that apart from us, other taxi operators will now have access to Qauia.”
Two layers of aggregate have been laid on this one kilometre stretch of road. Drainage work was also carried out before resheeting took place bringing the total cost of the project to $157,000.00.
“I grew up here and before the road was just graded and the gravel was reused, today we can see a huge difference in the work that is being done and how the road level has been raised. To express how happy the residents are, at midnight you will find people still out on the road,” said Josaia Vui a Qauia Resident.
Local people say they are also experiencing far better access, “We have lived in Qauia for a very long time and we can say that this is the best road we have ever had in a very long time. Car tyres used to get bogged down before but now the sick no longer have to worry about riding on a bumpy road. We have thousands of people living her in Qauia and we are very pleased with the FRA’s work here,” said Filipe Lesikivale a Qauia Resident.
The resheeting work was carried out by Fulton Hogan Hiways Joint Venture and its local subcontractor Hot Springs, who are assisting the FRA to build and maintain the transport network of Fiji. Local workers were used to carry out the repair and they also received training and upskilling which will benefit future roading projects across Fiji.
FRA